Saying It with Words CAPTIONING GUIDELINES, TIPS, AND TRICKS BY DENISE LABUDDA AND A.J. PAULUS, AUGUST 2015

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1 Saying It with Words CAPTIONING GUIDELINES, TIPS, AND TRICKS BY DENISE LABUDDA AND A.J. PAULUS, AUGUST 2015

2 Overview What is closed captioning? Why is closed captioning important? Video captioning standards Copyright Programs available to create your own captions How to order a (paid) captioning service

3 Why Caption?

4 Accessibility-Related Lawsuits NAD vs. Harvard and MIT (access to video captioning in MOOCs) National Federation for the Blind sued Florida State University to secure their right to accessible math content and software (Case settled in March of 2012) Penn State entered a voluntary resolution agreement with NFB that required Penn State audit all technology and develop a corrective action plan

5 Other Settlements DOE and University of Montana DOE and South Carolina Technical College System DOE and University of Cincinnati DOE and Youngstown State University DOJ and Louisiana Tech University DOJ and EdX, Inc. (purveyor of hundreds of MOOCS) requiring EdX to make its website and learning platform accessible and to give guidance to content creators on accessible authoring tools and methods. Higher Ed Accessibility Lawsuits, Complaints, and Settlements at

6 Legal Mandates Title II - ADA Prohibits public entities from denying benefits, services, programs or activities to qualified individuals with disabilities Protects people with disabilities from discrimination through barriers to communication Communications with individuals with disabilities must be as effective as communications with others Section Rehabilitation Act Prohibits programs or activities that receive federal financial assistance from denying participation to qualified individuals with disabilities Prohibits discrimination and mandates accessibility to individuals with disabilities People with disabilities may not be excluded from participation or denied the benefits of educational programs

7 Why caption? Accessible design is required by law. Accessible design aids all users. Captioning aids with note taking, comprehension, and provides access to auditory information when sound quality or surrounding noise creates distractions Accessible design supports the creation of an inclusive environment by reducing barriers.

8 When is captioning needed? Instructional, informational, marketing, promotional, and video posted to websites should all be captioned. Higher priority Required to meet current students request for accommodation (legally mandated) Media accessible to the public New course materials Medium priority Lower priority Reusable content Used only one semester Archived materials Online Rooms in Blackboard (typically used only once)

9 Captioning Standards Each caption frame should Hold 1 to 3 lines of text onscreen at a time Be viewable for 3-7 seconds Be replaced by another caption Not exceed 32 characters in length Be precisely time-synched to the audio Be positioned to not obscure onscreen text or vital visual elements Use upper and lower case letters Use sans-serif font Include spelling that is at least 99% accurate

10 Captioning Standards continued Each caption frame should Identify who is speaking when multiple speakers are present Include descriptions of non-speech sound such as [MUSIC] or [LAUGHTER] in square brackets Use punctuation for maximum clarity (not necessarily for textbook style) Preserve and identify slang or accents - From 3Play Media, How the ADA Impacts Online Video Accessibility

11 Copyright In 2014 UWS General Counsel recommended obtaining permission from the holder of the copyright prior to captioning. Other sources indicate creating accessible content is covered under the fair use doctrine. Draft captions to explain the video content for someone who is hearing impaired or has disabilities that make full understanding of the video difficult without captions. If you ask and are denied permission from the copyright holder, do not caption the video. Find an alternative.

12 Letterhead from Your College Campus (Insert Date) Sample Letter to Obtain Copyright Permission (Insert Name/Address of the Copyright Owner Attn: Permissions Department) Dear (Insert Name of the Contact Staff in the Company s Permissions Department): The purpose of this letter is to request authorization to modify instructional audiovisual material to include captioning for students attending public postsecondary education at the (insert name of college) in (insert city), Wisconsin. Please complete the statement that appears on the bottom portion of this correspondence and return it to: (Insert Name, Title, Address, and Contact Information of College Staff Seeking Permissions) This request is time sensitive and requires an immediate response. Please reply on or before (insert date). Title of Publication and Publishing Details: Copyright/Trademark Owner: Address/Contact Information for Copyright/Trademark Owner: The (insert name of college) requests authorization to modify the audiovisual material to include captioning for the purpose of ensuring access for students with disabilities within the instructional setting for education purposes. The (insert name of college) presently owns copies of the material. The material is used in conjunction with classroom instruction for educational purposes. The audiovisual material will be used until such time the material is removed from (insert name of college) collection (unless the Copyright/Trademark Owner specifies an expiration date). Your signature on this document confirms that permission has been authorized. This authorization will be clearly placed on the audiovisual material, along with the date that permission was authorized. Permissions Department Authorization Date (Printed Name, Title, and Company of Individual Granting Authorization) From UWS General Counsel s 2014 presentation, Wisconsin Postsecondary Captioned Media Guide.

13 Creating Your Own Captions A.J. Paulus

14 Programs available to DIY captioning YouTube can provide free captions with editing Camtasia Studio 8 Available on Campus Demonstration time!

15 How to request a captioning service To submit a paid captioning request, please contact AJ Paulus at x6047 or [email protected] Company Name: 3Play Turnaround time: Standard is 4 Business Days, with Rush options available Cost: $1.90 / min MTS pays initially, but will charge back your department

16 Questions?

17 Resources 3Play Media issue brief How the ADA Impacts Online Video Accessibility 3Play Media webinar. (April 9, 2015). How Copyright and Fair Use Impact Third Party Captioning for Educational Video. 3Play Media white paper Roadmap to Web Accessibility in Higher Education. Retrieved from Lazar, J., Goldstein, D., and Taylor, A Ensuring Digital Accessibility through Process and Policy. Massachusetts: Elsevier Inc. National Center for Accessible Media website at Penn State Accessibility and Usability at Penn State website at UW-Platteville s ICET website at Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 at Web Accessibility in Mind website at Wisconsin Postsecondary Captioned Media Workgroup Wisconsin Postsecondary Captioned Media Guide.